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C H A P T E R T WO C U R R E N T R I S K FA C TO R S
In this section, we shall deal with the present threats to the Valley of the Kings and their
underlying causes. Before any attempt can be made to remedy the problems of the site, we must
have a clear idea of the condition of its fabric and the processes at play, which have resulted in
damage to KV. Only after we identify the threats that affect the sustainability of KV can we develop
strategies for their removal or control. We distinguish between threats from the natural environment
and threats due to human action.
2.1 The Natural Environment
2.1.1 Geology
The Valley of the Kings was cut into limestone bedrock by
torrential rains and massive floods that poured over the African
landscape millions of years ago.
The limestone lies atop an
underlying, discontinuous stratum of Esna shale, about 50m thick.
This shale is an unstable, weak, grey looking stone that can expand
up to 50 percent in volume when it is exposed to moisture. It can
exert tremendous pressure on overlying strata, causing tombs cut
within them literally to implode (Figure 20). Such damage has
occurred in KV 7, the tomb of Rameses II, whose burial chamber
was cut partly into an underlying Esna shale layer, as well as in KV
5, the tomb of the sons of Rameses II. When the shale expanded
Figure 20: Destroyed Pillar in
KV 5
during various flood events, pressure caused the chambers’ pillars
and walls to fracture, and resulted in serious structural damage.
The thick layer of limestone is known as the Serai Formation of the Thebes Group. This
formation consists of three major layers of limestone (Figure 21), varying in quality from fine, hard,
solid stone, like that in KV 5 or KV 57, to the weak and fractured stone found in KV 7 and KV 11.
The lowest layer of the Thebes Group, called Member One (the Hamidat Member), is 120m
thick. Most KV tombs were cut into this stratum. Structurally, the stone varies from poor to good.
Tombs cut into the layer’s lower parts have been affected by the underlying Esna shale, even though
they may not come into direct contact with it. The proximity of Esna shale, and the variable quality
of the limestone, means that the condition of the tombs dug here varies considerably. Some tombs,
even after 3,000 years, remain structurally sound. Others have suffered serious damage: pillars have
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CURRENT RISK FACTORS
fallen, walls have cracked, chambers have filled with flood-borne debris, ceilings have collapsed, and
paint and plaster has disappeared. Tombs such as KV 7, 17 and 47, whose burial chambers graze the
shale layer, have experienced serious damage. Others, such as KV 5 or 57 have experienced almost
none.
Figure 21: Geology Cross-section
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Extensive fissures and fractures can be seen on KV hillsides where the lower parts of Member
One are exposed. These were created about 20,000 years ago due to seismic activity, and can extend
hundreds of metres below ground. They have acted as conduits for rainwater to seep into tombs,
infiltrating the underlying Esna shale and causing structural problems. The TMP prepared a Valleywide map of these fractures (Figure 22 and Figure 23), and cleaned and sealed those in the hillside
above KV 5 in 1997.
Figure 22: KV Outcrops & Vertical Fractures
Figure 23: KV Fractures Cross-Section
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The middle layer, Member Two (the Dababiya), is up to 140m thick. It is notable for the fossils
it contains. Especially common are large bivalves (Lucina thebaica), starfish, and nummulites, which
can be seen in abundance along the footpath over the hill from KV to Deir al-Medina.
The upper layer, Member Three (the Shaghab), is up to 30m thick and has a much more
yellowish colour than the layers below. It can be seen in the upper reaches of the Qurn as one walks
from KV to the Village du Repos (Deir al-Medina).
A preliminary study was made to evaluate the seismic risk in the KV/Luxor area. Although the
archaeological literature occasionally refers to historic earthquake effects in ancient Thebes, this is
poorly documented. A study of historic earthquakes was made based upon studies by Maamaun, et
al (1985). Earthquakes listed in that study that are close enough to Luxor to have had any effects are
shown in Figure 24. These earthquakes date as far back as 600 BC and as recently as 1972 AD. It
can be seen in the figure that most of the seismic events of any potential risk in Luxor are about
200km or more away.
At this distance, even considering estimated Richter magnitude 6+
earthquakes, the local accelerations in Luxor would be expected to be less than four or five percent
of the acceleration of gravity, consistent with the recommendations of the Egyptian Society for
Earthquake Engineering (1988).
Figure 24: Seismic Activity, 300 BC to Present
2.1.2 Topography
The central part KV is clearly defined by sheer cliffs, from 20 to 60m high, which extend around
its eastern, southern, and western sides (Figure 25). Tombs were cut into these cliffs early in the
New Kingdom. Later, they were dug into the low, rounded hills and steep slopes within the Valley.
These low hills are separated from each other by natural pathways stretching like splayed fingers
across the valley floor. KV’s barren upper hillsides are covered by weathered chert nodules and
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CURRENT RISK FACTORS
fossils. The low-lying hills are covered with thick layers of limestone chips and sand. Some of this
debris comes from the ancient cutting of KV tombs; some comes from 19th and early 20th Century
excavations; some is debris dumped when KV pathways were widened and low retaining walls were
built; and some is debris washed down from the hills high above KV during rainstorms and resulting
flash floods that occur every few decades. The SCA has suggested that all of this debris should be
removed down to bedrock, as was done a few years ago in the Valley of the Queens. This will be an
expensive and time-consuming project, and it must be done with great care if valuable data is to be
recorded. Major aesthetic and hydrological concerns aside, such clearing will uncover extensive
ancient workmen’s huts, shrines, foundation deposits, and caches of funerary objects, all of which
will require delicate archaeological excavation. The large amount of such material to be found here
has been demonstrated by recent Swiss, American, and British clearing operations. Further
topographic studies are therefore needed before any further work is carried out.
Figure 25: KV Topographical Map
2.1.3 Meteorology
Of all the threats to KV none is more serious (or more preventable) than the flooding caused by
torrential rains that strike the Valley’s watershed.
In minutes, the flash floods these sudden
cloudbursts create can wash tons of debris down the KV hillsides and into unprotected tombs. The
floodwaters weaken bedrock in which the tombs are cut, destroy their decorated walls, deposit many
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metres of silt and stone in their chambers, and cause dramatic and damaging changes in the humidity
levels within tomb chambers.
For example, the storms that struck Upper Egypt in October and November 1994 did terrible
damage. In Upper Egypt generally, the Government reported that over 500 people were killed,
11,000 homes were destroyed, and 25,000 feddans of crops ruined. In Thebes, too, there was
considerable destruction to the monuments. In the Valley of the Kings, the storms caused the
flooding of several tombs, and the Antiquities Inspectorate was forced to requisition pumps from
neighbouring villagers to remove the accumulated water. KV 13, the tomb of Bay, was the most
heavily hit: inspectors measured 1.40m of water in its lower chambers. KV 14, 15, 35, and 57, among
others, received smaller amounts of rain and debris. During these storms, runoff from the KV
watershed cut channels in the valley floor (through a deep layer of limestone chips), and damaged the
asphalt road eastward from the new KV resthouse. In the West Valley (WV), one can still see
channels two metres deep and three metres wide that were cut through mounds of limestone and
sand, and there is plentiful evidence of stones weighing 10 or 15kg being rolled along the WV floor.
Figure 26a and b: Flooding in KV, 1994
The floodwaters that rushed down the wadi from the KV and WV watersheds were joined by
even heavier runoff from more northerly wadis. Near the house of Howard Carter, these streams
joined forces, creating a wall of water that some residents of northern Thebes claim was as much as
two metres high. This torrent rushed toward the temple of Seti I, seriously damaging the temple’s
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enclosure wall and subsidiary buildings, turning limestone stelae and mud brick walls into mush. A
few metres north, across the paved road from the temple, grave markers in a modern Muslim
cemetery were demolished and the road itself buckled. Just east of the temple, homes in a mud-brick
village were reduced to piles of rubble. The whole event took less than 15 minutes. When it was
over, several animals had been killed, scores of homes had been destroyed, and hundreds more were
damaged. (It is important to note that the pattern of flooding here at the northern end of the
Necropolis in 1994 seems to have been very similar to a flash flood that struck in 1949.)
Over the past 90 years, archaeologists have slowly come to realize that flooding in KV is a
recurring event that must be dealt with broadly if damage to the ancient monuments is to be
prevented. The recent storms, and the historical pattern of storms that we are only now beginning to
trace, lend a degree of urgency to this work. Most of these plans are still in elementary stages of
design, and all have concentrated on the Valley of the Kings. But although KV forms a discrete
watershed, it is nonetheless just one part of a broader area—the northern sector of the Theban
Necropolis—that has been subject to rainfall and flooding for at least two centuries.
No one should have been surprised that heavy storms came to Thebes, or that their floodwaters
damaged specific, localized areas. The storms of 1994 were only the most recent in a long history of
storms, many of which have taken a heavy toll of Theban monuments.
A review of the
meteorological history of the West Bank (poorly-known though that history is) indicates that the
location of these storms is roughly predictable, and that the flooding they cause recurs in the same
areas at the same intervals decade after decade. The topography of the West Bank dictates this
pattern. This was reaffirmed by a heavy rain in 2005 that caused minor flooding in the same areas as
the rains of 1994.
2.1.3.1 The Regular Recurrence of Storms
Figure 27, based on data prepared for the TMP by Dr. Sherif el-Didy, Professor of Hydrology at
Cairo University, and supplemented with information provided to the TMP by the Egyptian Air
Force, shows a partial history of storms in the Luxor-Thebes area since the first weather station was
established in Luxor in the 1930s. These figures record data for Luxor, specifically the Luxor Airport
weather station on the edge of the East Bank desert. Our interest is KV, another 19km west.
However, until a weather station is installed on the West Bank (something the TMP is seeking
permission to do), this is the best data available. (There was a station that operated in KV briefly in
1997-1998, but it was dismantled and we have not been able to locate its records.) Figure 27 shows
the occurrence, each year from the 1940s to the 1990s, of the storms that dropped the greatest
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amount of rainfall—at least 1mm of rainfall—in a one-hour-long period. If there were several onehour storms in a single year, only the storm with the heaviest rainfall is charted. The maximum
amount of rain that fell in one hour is shown on the vertical scale (although, of course, the storm, if
it continued with reduced intensity for more than one hour, may have dropped more than the onehour amount). Note that the most significant storms seem to come in roughly three- or four-year
clusters once every decade or so. Regular yearly patterns of rainfall have been noted in other parts of
Egypt, too, although their intervals of recurrence differ from those seen here.
Figure 27: Storms with Heaviest Rainfall by Decade, 1940-1996
This pattern of three to four years of heavy rain per decade is not perfect, of course. However,
each recent major storm dropping more than 5mm of rain in one hour (in 1949, 1975, 1976, 1980,
1989, 1991, 1993, and 1994) usually has fallen within a three- or four-year storm cluster. That a
greater number of heavy storms has occurred in more recent decades than in earlier ones may
indicate that there is also a longer-term cyclical pattern of storms.
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In a letter to his mother in October 1918, Howard Carter wrote: “For three successive Octobers
we have had heavy downpours, and this time a peculiar phenomenon occurred. While we were as
dry as a bone, the larger valleys suddenly became seething rivers….The Valley of the Tombs of the
Kings, joined by the Great Western valley, in a few moments became little short of mountain
rivers…the torrent cutting out wide furows [sic] in the valley bed and rolling before it stones some
two feet in diameter—natives returning home with their animals were unable to ford it, and thus
were cut off from their homes.”
2.1.3.2 The Seasonality of Storms
It is also the case that virtually all of the recent heavy storms at Thebes (or at least those for
which we have records) occurred in the months of October, November, or early December.
Although much less frequent, rainfall has also been seen in Luxor in other months. Villiers Stuart
(The Funerary Tent of an Egyptian Queen) noted that it rained in Luxor on February 23, 1882, but only a
few drops. A light rain also was reported in February 1896. If Dr. Abdel Aziz Sadek’s interpretation
of dates in Theban graffiti of the Rameside period is correct, rains heavy enough to leave ponds of
water in the Valley of the Kings (events unusual enough to merit visits and comments by ancient
scribes who brought their children to see the phenomena) fell on March 18, 1210 BC (in the reign of
Merenptah), and again, less dramatically, on June 6, 1150 BC (in the reign of Rameses IV). In the
20th Century AD, such rains were extremely rare. However, it did rain in March 2005. In the ancient
Coptic calendar, the Gregorian months of October and November overlap the months of Tut,
Phaophi, and Athyr (the three months of ancient akhet, the Egyptian season immediately following
the recession of the Nile flood). In these months, the calendar warns that the weather will be
intermittently but regularly windy, rainy, and stormy. There is a similar tradition of heavy OctoberNovember rains among the Bedouin of the Western Egyptian Desert.
2.1.3.3 The Location of Storms
Heavy rains in the Luxor area are remarkably limited in their geographical extent.
One
frequently hears of rains falling heavily in one village, while only a few hundred metres away another
village remains dry (this is another reason why the Luxor Airport meteorological data is not the best
indicator of West Bank weather.) Although there may be some rain falling throughout the Theban
Necropolis during a storm, it is rare that the heaviest rains fall in more than a small part of it. In the
1994 storms, for example, light rain fell over the entire Necropolis, but was not serious enough to do
damage. Slightly heavier rains fell over parts of Malkata and Sheikh Abd al-Qurna (causing flooding
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in TT 139, Pairi). Very heavy rains fell in parts of KV, WV, and in the wadis north of these. In KV,
the heaviest rains fell in those very limited areas of the watershed that drain into the south-western
most part of the Valley—the hills above tombs KV 13, 14, 15, 31, and 32. There were only small to
moderate amounts of water reported in KV 8, 35, 57, and 62. These tombs also lie below the
western slopes of the Valley.
Tracing the scarce records of rainfall and flooding in KV in ancient graffiti, the diaries of 19th
Century travellers, and the recollections of on-site inspectors and guards, this pattern seems almost
always to be the case: there may be drops of rain falling throughout the Valley, but it is the western
part of KV, and especially the south-western part, that is subject to the most frequent and heaviest
rainfall and consequently that receives the greatest amount of damage. The only KV tombs outside
this quadrant that offer historical evidence of serious flooding are KV 5, 10, 17, and 18. None of
these was affected by the 1994 storms.
The geographical split of rainfall is illustrated in a letter from Howard Carter to Lord Carnarvon:
“…towards the sunset, as the desert cooled, there was a great storm in the Northwest. No rain fell in
the Valley, but from all the washes that ran down from the Theban hills, including the Valley of the
Kings there was a torrent, which cut furrows four feet deep and rolled stones as big as two feet
across. The locals were unable to ford the floods when returning from their work in the fields as the
area was a vast lake. Yet no rain fell.”
2.1.4 Flora and Fauna
KV is a desert wadi devoid of any natural vegetation. Its
only fauna are a few mice (lured by the detritus from tourists’
lunch boxes), and occasional snakes (lured by the mice). There
are also a few scorpions, insects, and small birds. In addition,
beetles (family Dermestidae) and silverfish (family Lepsimatidae)
have been observed in KV tombs. Bats were a problem several
decades ago, but today, thanks to screened entrance gates, only
KV 20 (Hatshepsut) is inhabited (its gate has been vandalized).
The only other flora or fauna are micro-organisms such as fungi
and bacteria that infest a few KV tombs. These have had a
deleterious effect on decorated walls and are to be seen, for
Figure 28: Mold in KV 62,
Tutankhamen
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example, on the walls of KV 62.
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2.2 Human Intervention
Human activity has occurred at KV in one form or another almost continuously for the past
500,000 years. Here, we provide an overview of these interventions.
2.2.1 Prehistory
The hillsides surrounding KV were used in Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic times (and in
Dynastic times, too) as work stations where chert nodules embedded in the limestone bedrock were
collected and used to fashion hand-axes, knives, and scrapers. These workstations, first identified in
the 1850s (they were the first evidence of the Palaeolithic to be found in Africa), lie along the top of
the sheer cliffs that define the Valley of the Kings, and along the footpaths that cross the hillsides.
2.2.2 Dynastic Period
In antiquity, Egyptians cut tombs for their pharaohs in KV and built numerous small huts and
shelters near tomb entrances in which to house themselves during their work. Occasionally, ancient
engineers were slipshod in their work, were forced to dig in structurally weak bedrock, or accidentally
broke into an already-existing tomb. They were fully aware of the variable geology of KV, but time
constraints, crowded conditions in KV, and the apparent absence of any overall KV map caused
mistakes that we are still trying to correct today.
In ancient times, perhaps only a few years after a tomb was sealed, thieves broke in searching for
grave goods to be melted down or refashioned and sold. In their haste to acquire the treasure, the
thieves showed no regard for the wall paintings, many times breaking through fragile constructions
and damaging the walls.
However, attempts at conservation and restoration of what, even then, were ancient monuments
were made during the Pharaonic Period, though not in the Valley of the Kings. Two examples of
this are Thutmes IV, who cleared and conserved the Great Sphinx, and Khaemwese, son of Rameses
II, who had a special interest in Egypt’s glorious past and restored several pyramids of Old Kingdom
pharaohs in Memphis. Khaemwese has been called the first Egyptologist.
2.2.3 Late Antiquity
From Graeco-Roman and early Christian times through the 20th Century, some KV tombs were
used as temporary habitation sites by visitors, monks, or excavators. Often, the occupants left graffiti
on tomb walls and on the Valley’s cliffs. If ancient, such graffiti are considered a valuable part of the
archaeological record; if recent, they are considered acts of vandalism.
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2.2.4 19th Century Rediscovery
From
the
Napoleonic
invasion
onward,
interest in KV was rekindled, attracting visitors and
looters alike.
The Enlightenment in the 19th
Century placed Egypt firmly on the Grand Tour
for the elites of Europe. A serious problem caused
by these 19th Century visitors was the making of
squeezes and rubbings of reliefs, and the use of
fires to light their passage. Squeezes were made by
Figure 29: Damage to KV 17 from 19th Century
Squeezes
pressing wet paper or soft wax against the walls,
letting it dry, then pulling it off to use for cast-
making. Unfortunately, the wall’s painted surface was pulled off, too. Several tombs have been
damaged because of squeezes, none more seriously than KV 17, the tomb of Seti I (Figure 29).
During this period, the grand museums of Europe, as well as opportunistic and wealthy private
collectors, engaged in a campaign of ruthless looting of the antiquities of Egypt. The Valley of the
Kings was not exempt from these ventures. Much of the contents of the Valley of the Kings was
dismantled, collected, hacked out, and disseminated to the four corners of the world.
“Ours is probably the last generation which will be permitted to see the glory of Egyptian
sculpture, as they were first revealed to the explorers at the beginning of the century…the smoke of
the travellers’ torches and the disfigurement by travellers’ spoliations, have rendered the ‛fine gold
dim’ in many of the paintings and inscriptions.”
William Howard Russell, 1869
2.2.5 Archaeology
Archaeological work in KV has also done considerable damage to the fabric of the site.
Egyptology lags behind many other academic disciplines in its approaches and adoption of new ideas
and was late in arriving at the notion of scientific archaeology. Only with the work of Flinders Petrie
did the start of systematic recording, and what could be termed scientific archaeology, emerge. For
over 80 years Egyptian archaeology has been dominated by the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb
and many Egyptologists have been guilty of feeling the “lure of gold” and until recent times have,
regrettably, acted like treasure hunters.
Archaeologists are too often concerned with their own concession (the area defined by SCA in
which they are allowed to work) and not the broader effects of their work on a site. In the past, illconceived clearing of tomb chambers has sometimes allowed floodwaters into chambers, which have
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destroyed fragile painted walls. The removal of debris around pillars has resulted in fractures in the
bedrock and even the collapse of ceilings. The debris from excavations, often dumped on adjacent
hillsides, has deflected rainwater into nearby tombs. More recently, archaeologists working in KV
have failed to clean their work area, leaving behind unsightly piles of rubbish, stone, and gaping holes
in the hillsides. Workers contracted to cart away excavation debris have dumped the debris alongside
the road to the Valley instead of in more distant wadis in order to save time and money. As a result,
the road to KV now offers tourists an unsightly, rubbish-lined drive to the site.
In addition, recent excavations in KV have significantly altered the topography of its watersheds,
and hydrological studies conducted in the 1980s and 1990s need to be redone before the levels of
pathways and the orientation of tomb entrances can be effectively changed and future floods
diverted away from the tombs.
2.2.6 Previous Conservation Attempts
Figure 30: Protective Screens
Modern attempts at cleaning, consolidating, stabilizing, or “restoring” KV tomb decoration have
sometimes done more harm than good. This is also true of the installation of protective devices such
as gates, glass panels (Figure 30), handrails, walkways, lights, and environmental controls. An early
example of this is the lighting system installed in KV 9 (the tomb of Rameses VI) by Howard Carter
nearly 90 years ago. Carter drilled into walls at ceiling level and inserted wooden dowels to support
the electric cables that he ran through the tomb to power lamps placed at intervals along its
corridors. Original paint and plaster were damaged in the process.
In recent years, foreign missions have undertaken conservation work in KV 5, KV 7, KV 9, KV
10, KV 14, and KV 16, and reports on these projects are available. Unfortunately, no records exist
that document the much larger amount of past conservation activity conducted in the Valley by the
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CURRENT RISK FACTORS
SCA.
No systematic survey of tomb conditions was even conducted until 2005, and most
conservation work has proceeded in an irregular manner, governed by the availability of finances,
labour, and materials, and the urgency of the needed work. The majority of the work that has been
done thus far is small-scale, such as the filling of cracks and fissures in tomb walls and ceilings,
plastering over graffiti (even ancient ones), and the restoration of broken pillars.
Fluorescent
lighting, wooden stairs, ramps, walkways, and hand railings have been installed in many tombs, and
large glass panels erected in front of decorated walls. Many problems, such as flaking pigment and
the growth of fungi, have largely been ignored.
2.2.7 Structural Changes to KV
Structural changes to KV have been carried out for two main reasons, one for increased visitor
access and two for flood protection schemes. The construction of pathways in KV, first undertaken
in the 1920s and revised several times since, was
done
before
hydrological
studies
had
been
conducted. This has resulted in an increased threat to
tombs from flash floods. To widen pathways, for
example, workers had to raise them to levels that
deflected floodwater into nearby, low-lying tomb
entrances. When the road from KV to Carter House
was paved, it created a spillway that allowed
floodwaters to pour out of KV in great quantity and
Figure 31: KV 17 Flood Walls
with great force into areas like Dira Abu al-Naga, the
temple of Seti I, and surrounding villages.
As
discussed above, in 1994 such a flood destroyed large parts of these areas, causing millions of pounds
of damage. Recent construction of diversionary canals and barriers along the road is unlikely to help:
the canals are not properly graded and the barriers do not cross the paved roadway.
Projects to prevent flash flooding within KV from damaging tombs or other parts of the
archaeological zone have so far proved unsatisfactory. The hydrological studies on which they were
based are outdated because continued excavations over the past decade have transformed the
Valley’s topography. Walls, recently constructed around some tomb entrances as flood barriers, are
aesthetically inappropriate in KV (Figure 31) and probably ineffective as well.
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CURRENT RISK FACTORS
2.2.8 Tourism
For the last 200 years, KV has been an increasingly
popular tourist destination. From a few dozen visitors each
day in the mid-1960s to over 7,000 each day in 2005, the
pressures on the tombs caused by mass tourism have
grown to dangerous levels. Rapid changes in temperature
and humidity in the tombs caused by hordes of hot, sweaty
tourists pose serious threats to painted decoration. Lack of
crowd control and traffic management make a visit to KV
unpleasant for tourists and dangerous for monuments.
Carelessly
sited
and
poorly
constructed
tourist
infrastructure—toilets, parking, lighting, etc.—threaten the
aesthetic character of KV. Touching and accidental
Figure 32: Visitor Touching Wall
abrasion of tomb walls by visitors is an increasingly
occurring problem. These will be dealt with in more detail
below.
2.2.9 Vandalism and Theft
Figure 33a and b: Before and After Attempted Theft, KV 43
Major thefts have been perpetrated from antiquity onward (ancient texts detail some of them),
but today such theft is extremely rare in KV, perhaps because of effective policing, harsh fines, and
stiff prison sentences. (Antiquities theft is still a problem in Egypt, but most thieves concentrate on
the many un-inventoried, unguarded nobles’ tombs used as makeshift storerooms). In fact, very few
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CURRENT RISK FACTORS
artefacts or wall fragments from KV have been stolen in the past century. (One example of wall
fragments that escaped detection is the pair of door jambs taken from the tomb of Seti I and now
reside in the Louvre and Florence). Increased tourism has itself helped to prevent theft, effectively
keeping tomb interiors under scrutiny 10 hours a day. One of the few recent examples of attempted
theft is the unsuccessful cutting out of a wall section in KV 43 (Figure 33). The attempt failed, but
the wall was irreversibly damaged.
Figure 34a and b: Steps Leading to KV 34, ca. 1910, 1999
Figure 35a and b: Entrance to KV 47, ca. 1910, 1999
Figures 34 and 35 graphically illustrate the changes to the fabric of KV over the last century.
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CURRENT RISK FACTORS
2.3 Summary of KV Risk Factors
High Risk:
•
Flooding
•
Tomb micro-climate
•
Inadequate site management and improper maintenance
Medium Risk:
•
Fractures and structural instability of limestone bedrock
•
Micro-organism and animal intrusion
•
Unsatisfactory conservation
•
Inappropriate flood protection schemes
•
Poorly sited and unaesthetic infrastructure
•
Accidental abrasion and touching of walls by visitors
Low Risk:
•
Landslides
•
Seismic activity
•
Improper excavation
•
Theft and vandalism
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